Innocence
by morphine cowboy
Summary: It was not luck that landed Trudy her position as pilot for the Avatar program. It was an unlikely encounter and her daring actions on a hostile planet filled with pirates and outlaws that eventually assured her fate on Pandora.
1. Chapter 1

She felt as if she was drowning in this alien atmosphere. It was thick, humid, and seemed to surround and engulf her, causing her to struggle for each breath. The intensity of the light given off by the enormous sun further increased the feeling of disorientation, obscuring visibility and encompassing the entirety of the horizon in a brilliant array of reds and yellows. Perhaps the most challenging aspect of the environment (of course, not taking into account the vicious and ruthless pirates and outlaws who had settled in the uncharted wilderness of the planet) was the tentative warning issued by the debriefing team of the planet's "sometimes unstable" magnetic fields. Basically, it was a poor justification to explain why her equipment might fail at any given moment, potentially stranding her in hostile territory.

"The things I do to save humanity," Trudy muttered to herself as she stepped into her Scorpion gunship. She sighed as she sat down. Sure, she recognized every control, function, and dial on the screen in front of her, but it wasn't _her _bird_. _ When she was transferred off Earth, despite her very vocal protests, they made her leave her old Scorpion behind. They fed her some bullshit about the logistical nightmare that would result if every pilot got to keep the same vehicle for each mission, especially when those missions were spread across the galaxy. "They're just lazy," she thought as she fired up the rotors and strapped in.

She turned around and smiled at the two marines manning the turrets behind her. "Buckle up boys!" she shouted above the loud roar of the rotors and engines. Her fingers danced across the varied array of dials and instruments in front of her, instinctively operating the complex mechanics. "This is Raven-5 taking off from landing bay," she said into her headset as the Scorpion hovered slightly and began to lift off the ground.

"Roger that Raven-5. Remember, you're just on patrol today. Don't do anything crazy out there. It'll take you some getting used-to." the radio operator cautioned.

"Me? Do something crazy?" She replied, "No, you must've read some other girl's file!" She kicked the rotors into full gear and the vehicle lurched into action, leaving the landing bay and compound mere details on the plains below. She tried to make out some of the surroundings as they appeared under her. This world was named Virgil, after the great Roman poet. Besides that, Trudy knew little else, besides that no-one really knew much. Well, she did know however, that the sun was very, very bright. Below her, an endless sea of amber-brown ferns and grasses stretched on endlessly in all directions. There were some precious minerals located somewhere in the recesses of the planets complicated caverns, but apparently the real goal lay ahead. Virgil was just an important stop on the shipping lanes to a large planet named Pandora, where a very valuable recourse was plentiful.

"Everything's looking good..." she muttered as her fingers danced across the main control screen, which displayed all sorts of figures about the functionality of her ship and about the surrounding environment. The base was far behind her now as she soared across hastily charted territory. The plains were beginning to give way to rocky spirals that broke the intensity of the suns glare and cast shadows for miles. "You boys up for a scenic detour?" she shouted back. It was a rhetorical question of course, as she already thrust the cyclic hard to the left, operating the anti-torque pedals with the diligence of a veteran.

The Scorpion found its way into a small valley between the blood-red cliffs and jagged mountains. As it was dark, she flew slowly, always assuring she had enough clearance on either end. She noted with dismay that her comm link had gone dead, and a lot of her readings from the surroundings were going in and out. "Is that a cave?" she pondered, squinting in the distance. She withdrew from shock when she saw what appeared to be a person dash into the entrance. "Hey keep your eyes open, I think I saw someone!" she shouted at the two men on the guns. "I'm taking us out of here, it might have been a pirate," she continued, and the ship slowly rose, until once again the unbearable light of the sun surrounded her on all directions. She was maneuvering the Scorpion so that it would get back on route, when the dull roar of engines emanated from the valley below.

"What the hell is that," she demanded, as three ships emerged from the darkness below. Two were small, not capable of fitting more than one person. The cabins were almost rectangular, and two sloping wings branched off from the middle of the cockpit. On the wings were laughably antiquated thrusters and traditional rotary machine guns. But the third ship was a bit more intimidating, having a domed cockpit, and then a long flat, open space behind, with multiple gun crews. All three ships were rusted and worn from use and age, and painted with emblems that were distinctly recognizable.

"All right boys, looks like we have some company! Open fire!" She commanded, and suddenly the whole ship vibrated from the barrage unleashed by the gunners. Trudy deftly maneuvered to dodge the opening shots fired off by the ships down below. She dove down, and launched a stream of missiles at the nearest ship. The tracking technology assured a grim fate for the pirate ship, and it was engulfed in a large explosion, debris flying everywhere. The other small ship attacked from the side, laying down a line of strafing fire that punched wholes in the Scorpion, as well as one of the gunners.

"Oh, you bitch!" Trudy growled as she began to pursue the small ship, despite the warning lights flashing from the ship's instruments. The small craft weaved around the red rocks with daring speed, but Trudy felt confident matching the pirate's bold theatrics. Her tracking would be useless, but she fired a volley of missiles anyways. Chunks of rocks sprayed from the sides of the cliffs, and through the dust Trudy could see the plane had entered a downward spiral, one of its wings blown off. "That's two for two!" She added with grim determination, though to her dismay her long range comm channel had not opened back up.

Suddenly she felt a small twinge of panic run down her spine. She swiveled her head around, desperately trying to locate the larger ship, which had gotten lost in the haze of the battle and intensity of the light. "See anything?" She asked her remaining gunner.

"No, nothing," he spat. Suddenly, the ship erupted with multiple loud thuds; machine gun rounds hitting the top of the vehicle. "Above!" he shouted, before pointing his gun up and unleashing hell on the incoming pirate vessel. By the time Trudy tried evasive maneuvering, it was too late. One of the rotors had been completely destroyed, and she struggled violently with the collective and cyclic in order to assure it was the safest crash she could muster.

"Hold on to something, we're going down!" She screamed back as everywhere around her lights and screens were flashing one warning or another. "Mayday, Mayday!" She shouted into her malfunctioning comm set. The ground was fast approaching. She instinctively covered her face with her arm as her brand new Scorpion collided with the alien ground. Perhaps she should've stayed on course.


	2. Chapter 2

Her eyes opened slightly, revealing dim figures and shadowy tunnels. She tried to lift her arms, but couldn't. The blackness crept back, and her surroundings once again faded into obscurity. An indeterminable amount of time later she found herself fading back into the realm of consciousness. She noticed she was on a table, but the rest of the room was hard to make out. A man and a woman were speaking in hushed voices in front of her, but she couldn't make out what they were saying. Suddenly, the woman stopped talking, and peered down at Trudy. "Hey, she's waking up!" She alerted the other character. Even in her despicable state, Trudy could detect the malice in her voice. The woman stepped into a light, and slowly walked over, until she was leaning right next to Trudy's face. She was extremely slender, with very prominent cheek bones and pale white skin. She knelt down, so that her lips hovered right above Trudy's ear, and her long, dark brown hair brushed her cheeks.

"Goodnight darling," she whispered, before smacking the helpless pilot violently on the side of the head, instantly knocking her out.

It wasn't until much later that Trudy found herself awake again. This time things were more defined, and she was able to move her body around. "Son of a bitch!" she muttered, rubbing her face. For a brief moment she was unsure of where she was and why she was in so much pain. Then it all came back; the mission, the fight, and of course, the crash.

"Finally you're up! From the way you're nursing your forehead like that, you either got into a fist fight or have one hell of a hang over," a female voice sounded from not too far off.

It took a moment more for Trudy to appraise her surroundings. Once she managed to wrench her eyes open, it became quite apparent that she was in a jail cell, probably built in the caverns. The only light came from a row of dim halogen bulbs hung sporadically around the cell and out the door in front of her. The cell itself was just a recess in the caves, as the walls were entirely rock, and it contained a couple beds and a latrine. Sitting on the bed across from her was a middle aged woman with red hair, leaning forward, propping her head up with her hand.

"Neither, unfortunately. Hangovers at least mean you had some fun the night before. And fights, well those I can win," Trudy replied, trying to grin. Another jolt of pain reverberated through her skull, causing her to rub her temples with a grimace.

"Then how did you end up here in such a sad state?" The red-haired woman asked, standing up from the bed.

"I was flying patrol when these bastards shot me down." She sighed, angry about her defeat. "I'm Trudy, by the way." She meekly offered her hand to the woman opposite her.

"Dr. Grace Augustine," the woman replied in a dignified tone, shaking Trudy's hand. "And I'm glad I finally have some company in this shit-hole."

"How did you end up here? I mean, no offense or anything, but I don't exactly see you as the prisoner of war type."

Grace chuckled a bit. "Is that your way of saying I need to hit the gym more?" Trudy gave a weak smile. "Well you're right either way. I'm more of a political prisoner I suppose. I'm a big researcher for RDA and I won't go into the details, but I am working on a huge project on Pandora. I can't even begin to tell you how much money my work could be worth. Anyways, I was here for only a couple days, to meet with some investors here, and the next thing I know a group of men with guns stops the car I'm in, kills my driver, and places a bag over my head. Woke up here a day later."

"I guess that means your project's on hold," Trudy commented with a shrug.

Grace laughed, "I guess that means it is." She paused for a moment, playing with a loose strand of hair. "But you know what the worst part of all this is?" Her voice was lowered, and Trudy looked around before leaning in closer.

"Yeah?" Trudy murmured.

Grace's eyes darted towards the front of the cell before she spoke again. "These bastards took my damn cigarettes!" She exclaimed, placing a hand on her heart, horrified.

"That's downright barbaric!" Trudy whispered, attempting to suppress a smile. She immediately turned her head towards the front of the cell, as the echo of footsteps filled the small enclave. Four shadowy figures emerged from a tunnel into a small area in front of the bars. Two stayed back by the entrance, rifles at the ready, while the other two walked forward.

"Ladies, I'm absolutely thrilled that you are taking the time to get to know each other, but it is time to be quite and listen for a bit. I promise, it won't take long." Trudy recognized the voice to belong to the man from earlier. She squinted at him, to better make out his appearance. He was of average height, with dark black hair, that would've been long if it weren't tied behind his head in a bun. He had an old but surprisingly clean olive longcoat on, with a dark gray shirt underneath. He looked pretty damn strong, even through the layers of clothing. Standing immediately behind him was also the same woman from earlier. Trudy clenched her fists and stared at her.

"Alright, what the hell do you want. I'm wasting my time here." Grace demanded.

"We've contacted your people. They are willing to pay a hefty price for your safe return, Ms. Augustine." The man said coolly.

"Huh," she mused. "So we're leaving now?"

The man laughed. "Certainly not. The longer we hold on to you, the more they'd be willing to pay."

"Or it will give them the opportunity to locate my crash site so they can come in here and kill you all. Ever think of that, genius?" Trudy interjected.

"I'm sorry, I don't remember anyone saying you could talk," The woman on the other side of the bars hissed, stepping forward.

"Well, I don't remember caring," Trudy shot back, also taking a step towards the bars, pointing at the woman.

The woman bent over, removing a pistol holstered on her ankle, and pointed it directly at Trudy. "I could kill you right now with absolutely no consequence. You really need to shut up and listen to what you're told. You lost any authority when you were shot down."

Grace watched, her feet frozen beneath her, anxiously pivoting her head between Trudy and the other woman. Trudy too stood her ground, clenching her fists, staring directly at the woman.

The man who had spoken before laughed. "Illana, please! This girl's obviously got a good head on her. And I'm sorry, I must've forgot my manners. I'm Captain Dan Duke, and this, this is my land." He pointed at the ground.

"It's not very impressive." Trudy countered.

"Ah! But it is profitable, and no fucking pilot flying for some corporation is gonna do shit around it. I'm making an example with you." He turned around, with the others going behind them in suit.

Grace sighed when they were all gone. "That was intense," she muttered. Trudy sat still, her arms crossed. "I guess they mean to kill you," Grace continued, looking at Trudy out of the corner of her eye. Trudy remained motionless, biting her lip. A few minutes later, one of the men slowly walked back into the room, temporarily leaning his rifle against the wall as he dug into one of his pockets.

"Still in the mood for that cigarette?" Trudy whispered to Grace, as the sides of her mouth crept into a smile.


End file.
